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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27232783">The King of DICE</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goddess_of_The_Lamb/pseuds/Goddess_of_The_Lamb'>Goddess_of_The_Lamb</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor, Background DICE (Dangan Ronpa), Blindfolds, Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Breathplay, Crimes &amp; Criminals, DICE Member Oma Kokichi, Drugs, Eventual Smut, Evil, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Gags, Good and Evil, Humor, Knifeplay, Light Angst, Masochism, Reader-Insert, References to Drugs, Sadism, Sensation Play, Sexual Humor, Slow Burn, Smut, Some Humor, Teasing, Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:48:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27232783</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goddess_of_The_Lamb/pseuds/Goddess_of_The_Lamb</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader of DICE, the 12-member criminal group that no one took seriously. Most would call Kokichi dramatic when he mentioned his leadership over the group, after all, he was able to spin his lies so well. What no one expected was the day his entire high school class was murdered by a mysterious outside attack from a group no one could identify. No one was left alive, or so everyone thought. In reality, Kokichi had gotten away, joining up with his group as their leader.<br/>This group would soon be known and feared by all who heard its name, though no one knew the leader's name, they knew his face.<br/>But what would happen if a certain curious girl from a certain Hopes Peak class would happen to know a boy named Nagito who began developing a crush on her, and what if she stumbled into the infamous DICE leader.<br/>What would happen if the class she had previously been in, became detectives to her kidnapping.<br/>. . .<br/>An Alternate Universe in which there is no killing game.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Komaeda Nagito/Reader, Nidai Nekomaru/Owari Akane, Oma Kokichi &amp; Reader, Oma Kokichi/Reader, Sonia Nevermind/Soda Kazuichi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Not-Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I haven't seen a lot of people try an AU plotline with Dangronpa and I thought it would be interesting, this is my take on it but my main goal here is to inspire others and give my readers enjoyment. You are all 100% allowed (even encouraged) to make a story similar to mine or maybe use this story's plot.<br/>I hope you enjoy &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>First, a few things are changing:<br/>-Some of the classes have been reworked, Dangronpa 2 (77th class with Nagito, Chisa, etc) is currently Sophmore year however Dangronpa 3(I believe) Kokichi's class was a sophomore year last year, so this year the class would be Junior's.<br/>-This is an Alternate Universe where there is no killing game<br/>-You, the reader, are referred to in feminine pronouns(she, her, etc.)</p><p>Now, I haven't finished the Dangronpa 2 or 3 game but I've watched all the available anime's out and spoiled some of Dangronpa 3 the game for myself so that I know the characters and personalities of those within Dangronpa 3.<br/>--<br/>The entirety of Dangronpa's 3 class (Gonta, Shuichi, etc.) have been killed with the last survivor being Kokichi however everyone else believes him to be dead, he was left alive purposefully by DICE who were the ones who snuck in as students and shot up the classroom, purposefully missing Kokichi so that he could come back to them as their rightful leader.</p><p>Kokichi x Reader<br/>Nagito x Reader<br/>Nagito x Hajime<br/>Other Ships Included</p><p>Since there haven't been many Alternate Universes written I decided to give it a shot</p><p>
  <span class="u"> Character List: </span>
</p><p>Reader</p><p>(The Ultimate Reader)</p><p>Kokichi Oma </p><p>Nagito Komaeda</p><p>Hajime Hinata</p><p>Byakuya Togami</p><p>Teruteru Hanamura</p><p>Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu </p><p>Akane Owari </p><p>Chiaki Nanami </p><p>Hiyoko Saionji </p><p>Mahiru Koizumi </p><p>Mikan Tsumiki </p><p>Peko Pekoyama </p><p>Gundham Tanaka</p><p>  Kazuichi Soda </p><p>Sonia Nevermind</p><p>  Nekomaru Nidai </p><p>Ibuki Mioda</p><p>   DICE Members</p><p>(Referred to as "number one" and such because I can't find official names on them, if you have ideas for official names let me know)</p><p>---No Monokuma's---</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The High School Ultimate Reader</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nagito and you have a distracting encounter</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter has more character development and focuses on Nagito and your connection more first, this was rushed so I'm sorry about typos and I'm also sorry that there is no Kokichi in this chapter, he will appear next chapter &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The tiny book you had picked up from the library that day had been smaller than the palm of your hand, small enough to fit into your back pocket- in fact, it was smaller than your phone and the words were small enough that you had to lean in and squint your eyes in order to read it but as the day progressed and you devoted yourself to the pages, the words became easier to read and your eyes adjusted until you could finally read it without having your nose touching the page. There were only 250-something pages packed into the small hardback book titled "Lover's Lines," a book consisting of a series of poems describing love and what it does to people. You were similar to the Ultimate Gamer; Chiaki in the way that you both had your eyes on something other than the world around you, but different in the way that she would look at her handheld device and you were occupied with the pages of a book.</p><p>Super High School Level Reader; The Ultimate Reader.</p><p>Being a good reader seemed like an odd talent to have- especially a talent good enough to get you into Hope's Peak, though some others in the class were accepted for interesting things that are strange to consider talents, like Sonia Nevermind being the Ultimate Level Princess. Everyone loved the girl but her position in the class confused you considering how she was brought in more for her social standing it seemed rather than a talent but everyone is different, maybe these odd talents were just what Hope's Peak wanted this year.</p><p>The book was over before attendance had even begun, having finished it in nearly less than an hour. This was an average time for you, maybe even lacking, you could have read 300 pages in an hour if you truly loved the book, but trying to read those small words had tripped you up and your head had been occupied with something else this morning which is also probably why you made the mistake of not getting a second book at the library so that you had a backup for when you finished the small one. </p><p>You usually read 3 or 4 200-600 page books before school even ended and that was with pauses so that you could chat with your classmates and participate, with full devotion to the pages you might've been able to accomplish 7 books before school ended.</p><p>So having only checked out one book of love poems with only 250-something pages and finishing it way later than you usually did came as a shock to everyone in the class including yourself. Of course, no one really paid too much attention to you in class but it's hard not to notice when the student that usually brings in a stack of books so tall it covered your face to class every day only arrive with a book the size of a folded tissue in their hand.</p><p>"Hey bookworm what's up with the child's book?" Akane snapped you out of your thoughts, though as you turned to look at her all you got was a face full of cleavage. She wasn't exactly discreet but after spending nearly the entire year with the class it had grown on you. Your eyes lifted up until they found hers and you responded tiredly, a yawn following your words.</p><p>"It's a poem book, a short compilation of love poems. It wasn't that interesting to be fair." The aforementioned yawn followed and you closed your eyes tightly and though the yawn didn't last longer than 5 seconds, it had been enough time for Akane to pick up the poem book and begin skimming the pages, flipping through them with an amused expression. You highly doubted she had any interest in the book, but rather was more interested in the fact that you were reading about love poems and when you stopped to think about what she and the rest of the class might think about why you were reading a book about love poems, you turned away with your chin on your hand and looked out the window, trying to avoid looking at Akane and the rest of the class to avoid the embarrassment. </p><p>A crush. They all probably thought you were hardcore crushing. </p><p>Love books hadn't been your go-to genre choice, you had been more interested in action novels, learning books like the one your read about yoga, history books, fantasy books, sometimes you let yourself indulge in some gook mystery horror books like Sherlock or just plain horror or suspense books. But love stories? You usually only read those at home in your spare time, never at school. You were scared you might get flustered in public or someone would tease you about it. Today had been the very first time you slipped up on that.</p><p>To your surprise, however, Akane just set the book down on the desk which managed to take your attention off of the window as you stared up at her, waiting for an explanation curiously. She just gave your shoulder a firm pat, winked, and sat back down at her desk, and as if on cue, Ms. Chisa waltzed into the classroom carrying her normal happy and uplifting presence with her as she took her spot up front facing the class and began addressing their task for the day which would end up being something like friendship exercises.</p><p>Akane's actions confused you, and confusion was your worst enemy. It led to overthinking, clouded your mind while you tried to decode a secret message that probably wasn't even there in the first place, it kept your mind occupied and you were unable to focus on Ms. Chisa's words.</p><p>You weren't too logical and you normally were just shy but friendly and kind, but today you were completely out of it and the smallest things were sending your mind spinning as you tried to figure out what was wrong.</p><p>But by the time class had ended, you were no closer to figuring out what Akane's actions meant or why you had been so distracted in the first place.</p><p>--------------</p><p>Nagito Komaeda; The Ultimate Lucky Student was also your daily escort home. The end of the day was always your favorite, not because class ended but because of Nagito, because at the end of the day you got to walk home with him and talk to each other. Sometimes Peko and Fuyuhiko would join but most times they were grateful that they wouldn't be cursed with his bad luck while they walked home, but of all the things that happened to him which seemed completely impossible to happen to any normal person, instead of finding it repulsive, you thought it was hilarious and almost adorable how it happened every time without fail. It was something that once he heard you laughing, he could understand you weren't laughing at him and would offer an amused chuckle himself, though it always had some bit of embarrassment or shame behind it.</p><p>Just as you enjoyed his company, he enjoyed yours, and thus walking home with him became you and Nagito's thing.</p><p>There was never a problem with it until a couple of weeks ago when your stomach would flutter when you thought of his voice and your hands would sweat and shake when you thought of walking home with him at your side, laughing about his fortune and misfortune, and now recently when you would walk with him, if he looked into your eyes you would become flustered and look away to hide a blush, and the entire walk home your heart would skip beats and your eyes would land on one part of him and obsess over it, his fluffy hair, his velvet soft skin covered in scratches and bruises from his misfortunate situations, pale in color which matches his platinum hair. His collar bone and how it jutted out of his skin just right, his hands and how they were boney, yet his fingers were long, his touches and movements gentle and soft- you could almost imagine him playing the piano with those hands, sliding over the keys so fluently as if he had known them his entire life.</p><p>Though you were sure with his luck the piano would probably break the moment he touched it.</p><p>Still, there was something so mesmerizing about him and it would occupy your mind far longer than you thought it would, and though usually even in conversations you could bury your face in a book, when you walked with him it was just impossible to do anything else but focus on him. </p><p>Then, even as you entered your home and waved him goodbye, shut the door behind you and slid down until you touched the ground and tried calming your heart and cooling your face, worrying if you had a fever, your mind would still wander back to him and reading your usual 10-12 books a day slowly began lowering from 12 to 9 then to 8 and now to 6. You just couldn't focus on the pages and words anymore when all you wanted to do was be around him. You considered going to his house for once since you never saw it or followed him home, or inviting him over to read while he was there so that your crave for his presence was eased but you knew you wouldn't be able to take your eyes or your mind off of him the moment he was in sight. </p><p>A distraction. A sinful temptation.</p><p>A person who was now walking home with you, going off on a tangent about how gifted your classmates are and how he was ordinary- he sometimes gets lost in his mind and words spill out of him without his knowledge but once he snaps out of it he understands that he was being weird. This was another one of those times. Normally you would be taking in his words thoughtfully but now your mind was cloudy and you stared down at your feet, your face beet red and your pulse thumping in your ears, you could actually see your chest pumping.</p><p>
  <em>But I'm not even running, why is my heart beating so fast and my chest hurts too- God why am I so hot...</em>
</p><p>Your mind was running, trying to come up with a reason for why you were reacting this way, maybe you were sick. No, you knew there was nothing wrong with you health-wise you felt fine this morning. You knew deep down what it was but you were too scared of the truth to admit it even to yourself, you refused to believe that everything you read in that stupid poem book had resonated with you; refused to accept the true reason, but the more you fought with the truth, the more it tore at your heart- at your mind and at your soul, your very fabric of being was being torn to shreds by a realization you were terrified of. </p><p>A hand fell on your shoulder and it took you a moment to realize who's hand it was, but the voice that followed left no room for question. "Are you alright? Maybe we should take you back to Mikan." It took you a second to realize that your hand was clutching onto your shirt, the fabric nearly ripping under your death grip, your nails digging into the fabric as if you were holding onto it for dear life. You were still looking at the ground and your face was on fire, your lips trembling to match your shaky legs and hands and your ragged breathing. </p><p>His hand snapped you out of your trance and somehow managed to calm you down a little. You looked up at him, your eyes catching his and the weight of his hand on your shoulder suddenly became unbearable, his body heat sunk through your shirt sleeve and heated your shoulder. It felt torturous as if you wanted to be closer to him like you wanted to feel his hands run down your skin and send goosebumps down your body. His skin was normally cool and cold but right now it felt dangerously hot. Still, you made no move to back away from his hand.</p><p>His face looked softer than usual, his expression tight in worry but his eyes light and mellow. The skin on his face was perfect- baby soft and he was possibly the most beautiful thing you had ever seen. As always, his expression never showed all of his emotions, it was like he was hiding something or like he wasn't what he was portraying himself to be.</p><p>His dull green eyes- nearly grey- were what caught your attention and you couldn't bring yourself to look away once you had spotted them.</p><p>And he made no move to look away either.</p><p>Two- no Four- seconds passed before you found the courage to respond to Nagito's concerned question. "Y-Yeah I'm fine I just needed a moment..." Your face began to heat up again once you realized how long you two had been staring at each other and you looked away, pink dusting your cheeks as you willed yourself to calm down before it got too bad. You put a hand to your head and groaned to try and play off the lie you were about to tell- an innocent lie just to give you an excuse to get out of the current conversation topic. "My head is pounding- I think I might be sick, do you have any water?" The water was to help cool her body hopefully and to also give her an excuse not to talk.</p><p>He offered a small smile- a sweet, genuine smile and she swore she saw some color rise on his pale cheeks but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. Nagito reached into his bag and pulled out a singular soda and held it out to you but the shuffling in his bag had made another can slip out and roll onto the sidewalk below, and just as Nagito went to take a step towards you, his foot landed right on the can and slipped.</p><p>. . .</p><p> </p><p>When you came to, the world was spinning. Your shoulders hurt, your head hurt, and your chest hurt. You groaned and tried to sit up but you went right back down with an 'oomph,' a certain weight holding you down to the ground. You took a moment to blink up at the sky until your vision adjusted and right as you were preparing to look down, a faint groan grabbed your attention, and your eyes found fluffy white hair nestled on your collar bone, ticking your neck, a strand on your lips. Nagito's body laid on top of yours which made it hard to breathe from the pressure to your ribs, but also made it hard to move. You tilted your head back and covered your eyes with one of your hands to prevent yourself from blushing even more at the situation you were in.</p><p>The position wasn't revealing at all, but it was uncomfortable and embarrassing and certainly intimate, it might've been the closest you two had been. He continued to groan and moan as he sat up, it was obvious his body was aching too from the sudden fall and as he rose, his knee brushed against your bare leg and caused your hand to twitch and your face to brighten. You sucked in your lips, desperate not to make any noise so that this didn't get more awkward. His hand brushed up on your upper arm as he placed his hands on either side of your head and once he stopped moving, you finally removed your hand and looked up at him. </p><p>This time the color on his cheeks didn't disappear so fast and you got a good long look at his surprised expression, a light pink coating his cheeks and contrasting against his pale skin tone. His eyes were wider than usual and he blinked slowly as if dumbfounded. You stared back, blinking slowly and praying that he wouldn't notice how fast your pulse was.</p><p>The moment was short-lived. He sat back slowly, sitting down criss-cross at your feet while scratching the back of his neck, the blush he wore before was now gone but he was smiling and chuckling instead as if nothing had happened.</p><p>You still laid there, processing as his honey-sweet laughter filled your ears and sent the butterfly's in your stomach fluttering.</p><p>"Sorry about that, my luck really is awful." His words once again snapped you back into reality and you sat up, looking down at your lap with a frown. </p><p>
  <em>So that's really it...</em>
</p><p>"It's alright I uh- I think I'm going to walk the rest of the way home..." You looked up at him and winced once you found his eyes and you found yourself wishing you would bite your tongue and keep him around a little longer, to admire his beauty and luck, his words and near-prophetic musings- just to be around him longer... "By myself, I need some time alone."</p><p>But you knew it would only get worse.</p><p>He gave a sad look, smile and brightness leaving his face as he looked off to the side, no doubt blaming himself for her discomfort. "Alright, if that's what you want." He stood up, offering his hand to you- but you got up and looked away from him, rejecting his hand. </p><p>He dropped his arm back at his side, defeated.</p><p>You didn't give him the chance to say bye, you turned and walked off- quickly- nearly power-walking. You took in shaky breaths, trying to calm your heart and bring a stop to your watering eyes, trying to take your mind off of the feeling of your heart in the pit of your stomach, your biggest fear coming true.</p><p>
  <em>I'm in love.</em>
</p><p>It's practically your worst nightmare.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Again, so sorry for no Kokichi this chapter- we won't be seeing Nagito and you talk to each other for a while so I'd figure I would give you this moment here to make up for his future absence.</p><p>Thank you for reading I hope you liked it- I'm not the best writer</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Quiet Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After the experience with Nagito you decide to head down to your local market to cool off.</p><p>But after finding a certain unsettling poster, you find yourself disturbed and anxious instead.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Your back hits the door and you slide down, your knees too shaky for you to even consider them stable to stand on. You sat there on the floor, hands and legs trembling with your knees pulled up to your chest as if you were seeking to hide. <em>Love.</em> The word was cruel- painful and nothing more than an empty promise, it was something you had seen fall apart too many times and something that haunted you- a single word that would become your greatest enemy. Memories of harsh words and unloyalty wormed their way into your head and infected your mind, drowning out your never-ending thoughts until the only thing you could hear was <em>no.</em> </p><p>You were trying to calm down, it wasn't like you were having a panic attack and you weren't losing your mind, you were just a bit shook up, having not considered actually feeling it despite reading about it, shivering sometimes at the mention of it but you could read love stories if you just tried to ignore it and sappy love poems like the one from that book were nearly comedic if you managed to push back the thought that you related to how the poets felt.</p><p>But you couldn't push it down when the reality was right there in front of you, and if was easier to push off and ignore the written words of a fictional story such as novels or try and laugh off the cheesy lines in a poetry book then it was to ignore it in real life. The reality was a cold hard truth.</p><p>And right now you found yourself wanting to crawl back to the safety of that sweet little lie of yours.</p><p>The lie that told you that you had no feelings for Nagito and that he was just your friend.</p><p>Only a friend. That's all this was, you just hadn't had a close friend in a while due to your shy nature, maybe this was just you overreacting to a strong platonic bond. </p><p>And so you went with that. You made yourself believe it, repeating it endlessly in your mind like a broken record so that you could convince yourself that it was true.</p><p>And eventually, you calmed down.</p><p>You stopped shaking, you slowed your heartbeat, you calmed your mind, and you felt the strength return back to your body as well as a pounding headache. Slowly, you rose to your feet again and rested a hand against your head, moaning as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit you and caused your body to sway. You needed to get a break; some fresh air. There weren't many places you knew, you really only went down to the market a couple of blocks away for your daily necessities and the library- the market! Of course! It was never crowded and while the library was usually your calm space right now getting some things might clear your mind. It was a rather small market with mostly food however a corner of it was dedicated to clothes and jewelry and to top it off the workers were always super sweet.</p><p>
  <em>Yeah... the walk there isn't bad either, alright then I'll go to the market.</em>
</p><p>Taking a deep breath, you thrust yourself off of the wall and wander into the kitchen while digging into your pocket, tossing the mini-poetry book over your shoulder onto the kitchen island behind you. Your eyes searched for the tiny bottle labeled "Excedrin," and once you found it you hastily removed the cap and popped 2 white capsules in your mouth, not even bothering with a drink to chase it down as you simply used your saliva, shivering as it went down your throat roughly but you carried on. It would help with the headache and hopefully, by the time you got to the market, it would be gone.</p><p>You went back to the door; back to the spot where you had melted to the floor shaking, and you reached for the handle, taking a moment to gather a mighty gasp of air, hold for 2 seconds, and let it all out slowly and gently as if you were blowing a leaf from your lips.</p><p>Then you turned the handle and left.</p><p>Normally a freshman walking alone to a market to get their own food would cause worry to their families and hearing their child come home after school would alert them to welcome their presence with "hi honey how was school?" But you never had to worry about answering that question, never had to worry about causing your relative's concern, because you were alone now. It wasn't like your parents had died tragically in front of your eyes, it wasn't a superhero backstory, in fact, what happened was rather simple and very quick. Two months of yelling and threats of a court case. A divorce on the 12th of July, halfway through the 3rd month of yelling. Then, at last, the separation on the 13th where you choose either foster care or to stay with your mother. The final decision on the 14th where you told your father goodbye and rode with your mom home as they signed a restraining order for your father and you never saw him again. You were eight.</p><p>At twelve your mother began slipping slowly, devoting herself to drinks and cigarettes until it was the only thing you smelled. She would bring home men every other day and the noises and movement from the other room made it easy for you to understand what was happening. Five months after she gave into alcohol and smoke, she had a seizure and you called 911. Attempted overdose on drugs she snuck from one of her one night stands. Illegal drugs.</p><p>Your mom recovered completely in 3 months' time, though the damage to her body would stay permanent. She was taken to rehab, then to prison and due to the amount she had and the variety- cocaine, heroin, and even a stash of mixed prescribed painkillers that hadn't even been hers hidden in her bedside drawer- and during her confession, it had been said that she participated in the selling and exchange of drugs. </p><p>You hadn't seen your mother since.</p><p>You stayed with your uncle your entire life and this was his house. He picked up a job last year which had been very good for him financially and had done great things for you both. You could afford Hope's Peak now and he could afford his medicine. He left to go to Egypt last week for his job and hadn't come back since, he said he was estimated to come home in 4 months but that he would send her postcards when he got the chance.</p><p>Fifth-teen. You were fifth-teen now and when it started you were eight. Seven years since you had been with your mother and father. Three years since you had seen your mother. </p><p>Truthfully, although you took an interest in reading since you were barely five, you really started investing yourself at ages seven and eight- more so eight because you used it to escape reality, you were able to drown out every noise including the yelling, drown out every thought, every fear and stress. You were calm, the words flooding your mind and filling you with emotion- suspension, happiness, sadness, excitement- and you absorbed it all with wide eyes and an open mind, skimming the words and flipping pages, cutting yourself on the thin dry edges of those very pages, the scenes playing out in your head like a high-quality animation or a modern movie. You saw everything- felt everything- learned everything. And then the book ended. When you loved a book you sometimes zoned out so suddenly that an hour felt like three minutes and 600 pages felt like five. </p><p>So you devoted yourself to it, diving into foreign pages and letting the story envelop your mind and soul until the tears the character cried were yours and the pain from that shot wound the character got in their left thigh was your pain. Over and over until the yelling became nothing more than background noise and one day you looked down the local library's teen isle to see you had read nearly every single book- of course, you left out some such as Twighlight and some "100 facts about blah blah blah" books. By that time you were nearly nine, it took you just under a year to do it and you yourself were flabbergasted and the library reported it and got you in the newspaper.</p><p>Nearly every library knew your name. And when you got to Hope's Peak, your name began to feel more like a title until slowly your name was forgotten and replaced with "the Ultimate Reader." That's all you were. You left a mark on the world as a book nerd, but how did that compare to someone who could sing like an angel or someone who could dance so gracefully it brought tears to your eyes. You related to Nagito in the way you felt like your talent was almost embarrassing and shameful compared to the other students' talents at Hope's peak. It was barely a talent- not even.</p><p>Even so, it came with unexpected quirks. From reading so much and constantly using your imagination you became good at visualizing and your dreams were vivid, you also had a very good memory. Something else unique was your ability to read emotions and people, perhaps it was from empathizing with so many different characters but now you could see who someone was in their eyes and see their emotions or read their expressions and body movements if you put your mind to it. Of course, most times you were too lazy or distracted and with Komaeda you felt too scared to try and so you didn't.</p><p>. . .</p><p>You let your mind wander on those subjects- your past and your talent- like you were narrating it as you would a book. The mental narration continued for the entirety of the walk and once your eyes found the flashing sign saying "The Everything Market," your thought process came to a halt and left you confused yet disappointed about how you could let your mind wander so much. You could have ventured off the sidewalk and gotten hit by a car!</p><p>Your imagination was going to be the death of you one day.</p><p>Still, as you gave yourself a mental lecture about staying focused and not getting your head in the clouds, you made your way past the small parking lot full of cars and empty plastic bags blowing across the old cracked pavement. It nearly looked like a tumbleweed. There was litter here and there and though the market was rather old and the sign was flickering, edging between dying out and staying bright, the building didn't look old at all. Thanks to a new paint job and some indoor renovations, the place looked good as new through the cracks in the parking lot road, and the abandoned rusted carts frozen near trees and parking spaces coupled with the flicking parking lot lights made for an ominous aura at night and a 'crappy-old-market' by day.</p><p>There were laughter and conversations too hushed for you to hear and though the market wasn't popular, it was still the closest place to Hope's Peak and the renovation made it look brand new... that was probably why there were so many people here right now when back before the renovation there was barely anyone- it was a miracle and a shock that they could even afford such an upgrade.</p><p>Or perhaps Hope's Peak lent some money so that the closest market to them was at least attractive and gave the area around Hope's Peak a good impression.</p><p>Yeah. There was no other way, really.</p><p>The automatic doors opened for you and the feeling of cold indoor air chilly enough to combat the accumulating body heat but warm enough to not make you shiver gave you the feeling of coziness. You took a deep breath, refreshing air filling your lungs before quickly leaving through your mouth, and then you walked into the store completely, taking a moment to get a good look around at the new carts and the new entrance.</p><p>Another pair of automatic doors was the last barrier between you and the actual store- that was new. The carts were now a shiny silver and the wheels were smooth and no longer rusted. The polished floors which you originally thought were meant to be black were not a sparkling white and you wondered if the place had really been that dirty or if they just got new colored floors.</p><p>Regardless, it was your favorite market either way and you couldn't deny that the upgrades were beautiful and really helped with the overall appeal to the building.</p><p>Something crumpled under your shoe and out of curiosity you moved your foot and squatted down, picking up a seemingly blank piece of paper with smeared dirt ruining the clean paper however it was hard to feel bad about ruining it when it was creased from previous awkward folds and cut in random places, nicks covering the sides of the page. It seemed like an ordinary sheet of dirty paper unfortunate enough to wind up on the floor and since it seemed unimportant you almost dropped it back to the floor. But something finally shone through from the other side and you turned the page over inquisitively and the words on the page followed by a familiar face made your eyes widen.</p><p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p><p>                                                                                    </p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <b>WANTED</b>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <b>CAUTION</b>
</p><p>
  <b>DICE Leader; Number 1</b>
</p><p>
  <b>If spotted, turn him in to the authorities immediately</b>
</p><p>
  <b>For a 3 million-dollar reward</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</b>
</p><p>There was an image of the boy at the very bottom, hair that curved out in a unique and strange way, big eyes and drawn up brows coupled with a charming smile gave the impression of childish innocence to his profile, in a way those large eyes and happy expression was cute as if he was a well behaved wholesome kid who was kind and an outstanding citizen. His skin was pale and his eyes and hair were a deep violet, his hair darker than his eyes. He wore a checkered scarf tied neatly behind his neck and a white jacket torn at the bottom in random places and miss colored buttons clasping to the jacket, not a single one unbuttoned, he had a short chain connected to the collar of his jacket and then white pants with strange white belt-looking things strapped tightly to his thighs with enough left out that it nearly went past his ankles. </p><p>The wanted poster was only of his profile- shoulders up- and while it was professionally drawn, there was no color however pictures of the boy and eye-witness descriptions told of the appearance of the infamous boy. Some accounts and a few pictures showed him in a torn black cape clasped by a single silver plate by his neck paired with a black hat. Very rarely did he wear a mask which was strange considering the rest of the DICE members always wore masks at all times and their leader- their representative- was careless enough not to. Or maybe he was just cocky and knew that even if he gave his face away no one would catch him.</p><p>They hadn't caught him yet. Him and his members.</p><p>But what exactly was DICE.</p><p>No one truly knew. The only thing is known is that they were responsible for the Hope's Peak incident in which the entirety of last years freshman students had been shot and killed, some teachers who tried to fight back were shot as well and the teachers who saw the events were banned from ever stepping foot onto the high school again. There wasn't a single survivor it was said and the students who were killed have been erased from existence- any mention of their names or a possibility of who they are is deleted instantly and Hope's Peak swept the entire incident under the rug. Not a single soul knows who all was in those classrooms. </p><p>Two weeks after the incident, their activity flared up starting with bank and jewelry store robberies- most of which involved sleeping gas so that very few were killed and very few could stand in their way or call the police. After that it became a worldwide television hack, various other hacking incidents and some even speculate that the deletion of the info on the students killed was also their doing. Their biggest crime was leveling a hotel. It crumbled to the ground and caused 62 deaths and major damage. That was only 4 months ago. They went back to theft and no one truly knows what they're doing behind the scenes, they could have underground connections or connections from up above and no one would be the wiser.</p><p>Catching the leader was the biggest priority and the most frustrating game of cat and mouse recorded in history. He always escaped no matter how close he was to being captured and his minions were just as slippery. </p><p>You shuddered and looked away from the paper, letting it slip from your fingers and drift back to the floor as you walked off towards the carts. </p><p>What you thought was about to be a relaxing shopping trip was about to turn into a battle scene caused by the very group that was now crowding your mind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for not posting in so long, school has me a bit distracted!!!<br/>I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was a little badly done so I'm sorry.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Hiatus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>First, I heavily apologize for my absence I have been working on some oneshots in my drafts and family issues combines with school stress. This book will be on a temporary hiatus due to this.</p><p>Second, the oneshots I have mentioned are nearly done do you should expect to see some new stuff from me soon, however I will only be posting some oneshots for a little while. Here are the oneshot ships:</p><p>NagitoxReader {nearly complete}</p><p>ShuichixKokixhi {nearly complete}</p><p>ShuichixKokichi {yes another one, not quite as ready though}</p><p>NagitoxHinata {in the works}</p><p>That's all, thank you all so much for your patience I hope to continue this book very soon.</p>
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